Connie's legacy: 'Why wait to be told you're dying?'

Last Friday we said goodbye to Connie Johnson, the mother whose tremendous courage and positivity touched us all.

5 moments that made us fall in love with Connie Johnson00:17:24

5 moments that made us fall in love with Connie Johnson

08 Sep 2017

1 year

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As we start a new week, amid all the chaos of family life, it feels important to remember one of her most important lessons:

"Why wait to be told that you're dying to start living?" said Connie in a speech at TedX Brisbane in 2015.

"I challenge you - have a pillow fight, dance in the rain and jump in puddles, listen to a genre of music you've never experienced before, travel to or read about faraway places, grab your partner and kiss them passionately. Tell your children that you love them, connect with your inner child, look up at the clouds and find the shapes of animals, look down at the pavement and don't step on the cracks.”

Connie lived for her two sons

Willoughby, 11, and Hamilton, 10 were the joy in Connie’s life. It was important to her that she lived long enough for them to remember her.

“The first thing I thought when I got diagnosed was, ‘My kids won't remember me’. I really wanted them to grow up to an age where they remembered me... not just from photos and stories people told, but actually have their own memories,” she told the ABC Brunch program.

“I already know in my heart, that they’ll grow up to be fine young men. And there will be a lot of people to guide them in my absence. If what they show now, is just a part, I can already say now that I’m proud of them.”

We will always remember her positivity and courage

Just a few weeks ago, Connie took went outside the hospice where she spent her final weeks, to give her Instagram followers an update.

Things had started to get very tough; Connie said she could no longer enjoy food, could no longer walk and was struggling to breathe - yet, she still found something to celebrate:

“Today I realised that I still have my mind, there's no cancer there. I still have my hands and my arms for hugging my children, I still have eyesight for seeing my friends, I still have my hearing for lovely conversations and music.“I still have a couple of hours a day when I can do my craft. These are things to celebrate, I just feel so wonderfully happy! XX Connie.”

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